The perfect sweet to enjoy with a coffee

There may be as many different opinions about the perfect sweet to accompany a coffee as there are sweets. Nevertheless, I would like to introduce you to some of the classics and especially my favourites. Here they come:

The Tartufo Del Piemonte is very sweet, and has little pieces of Almond inside. It is ideal to accompany strong Espressi and Caffé Lunghi, for they can sweeten your tongue. They are also good to compensate for whatever slightly disappointing coffee you might have to endure. At Globus, where you get one with your coffee, I don’ t need it with my coffee, because it is of amazingly good quality, but I always put it in my bag for coffee disappointments (and let’s face it, there are quite a lot around; you’ re not always within walking distance of one of your favourite cafés).

The Butter cake with maple syrup was enjoyed with a strong Italian Espresso in Bergamo. If I ever visit this charming town again, I’ll return to the café. It is for people who like the sugary sweetness of maple syrup. Not so much for the ones that are into mild sweets like dark chocolate.

Speaking of cake: here’ s a classic in disguise of a Birthday Cake: Chocolate cake (and I’ m talking about a cake that’ s made of SWISS chocolate!). Very often, when someone celebrates a birthday, there is cake. And it is a very common custom to drink coffee with the birthday cake. In this case the symbiosis is great. Chocolate and coffee compliment each other well. Until the next Birthday, then! 😉

There are a lot of little sweets, in Italy known as pasticceria (right at the bottom), that present a great variety of choices so there should be something for every taste. There are the Amaretti, cookies made of bitter almonds, eggwhite and lots of sugar. They are very difficult to make, but very good. An uglier form (just to look at them) are the Brutti ma buoni (left), which means ugly but good in Italian. They are made similarily, with the difference that the almonds are cut into bigger pieces than with the Amaretti. What you can see in the photo on the upper part is the Panettone which is traditionally made for christmas in Italy. It consists of a very soft pastry and has small pieces of candied fruit in it. It always gets me into holiday mood when I have a piece.

I enjoyed this delicious wafle with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce with an exquisite Espresso at the Café Trussardi in Milano. I think the wafle is perfect with a strong Espresso, on a cold winter day when you’ d rather stay inside, or, if combined with Ice Cream, on a beautiful summer day.

The perfect sweet to enjoy with a strong Espresso or Macchiato is the classical Torta Della Nonna, which is made with pignoli. Try it next time you’ re in Italy!

Macarons are great with coffee, they lighten up the day or improve it even more if the weather happens to be good. Those on the picture aren’ t just random Macarons, they are the best there are: Luxemburgerli by Sprüngli. If you’ ve ever tried them, you won’ t forget their unique taste and look. They also have special editions, this time they had a Bellini-flavour (you know, Venice’ s official drink, consisting of peach puree and prosecco). It’ s delicious!

For those who prefer the creamy flavors, let me make a few suggestions: marc de champagne (my favourite), chocolate and caramel with fleur de sel. Delizioso! So now that summer apparently has arrived, a coffee with a Luxemburgerli on the terrace sounds like heaven, doesn’ t it?

Something for the fans of ice cream: I just shot a wedding where they had an iced wedding cake. It had three compartments with different flavours: mocca, chocolate and raspberry (each with vanilla) and it was by the best confiserie there is: Sprüngli (like the Luxemburgerli). DELICIOUS on a hot summer day.

What is your favourite sweet to enjoy with a coffee? Please comment below.